Merrick ARC cafe wins coveted award
Posted: December 4th, 2009 | Author: DGPPG | Filed under: Press Clippings | Tags: Activity Resource Centres (ARCs), Awards, Dumfries and Galloway Council, Merrick cafe, Newton Stewart ARCComments: 2 - Leave your feedback, post a comment here »
Friday, December 04, 2009 – Orginal Source – by Kenny Barr, Dumfries Standard Friday
A CAFE run by adults with learning disabilities has been awarded four stars for catering and service by VisitScotland.
Merrick Café, a popular and busy facility within Newton Stewart’s Merrick Leisure Centre, was described by inspectors as “a truly excellent feature with very good range of high quality produce”.
The cafe is a partnership project between Dumfries and Galloway Council’s social work services and leisure and sport, and training is provided through Dumfries and Galloway College.
Using the Activity and Resource Centre (ARC) as the training and catering base, the café is based on the principles of healthy eating, home cooking, and healthy lifestyles with 13 ARC service users involved. The project has recently expanded to include a sandwich delivery service.
Beth Bleasdale, manager of the Activity and Resource Centre, said: “This is wonderful recognition for the whole café team and all those who support them in their learning and development, and we are grateful to our organisational partners for their ongoing support and commitment.”
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This just evidences what a nonsense the Alexander and Proctor plan to close the ARC really is. Here an brilliant innovative activity that developed out of the ARC and relies on that “base”. The very place the Dumfries & Galloway Council and NHS Dumfries & Galloway ‘Head of Strategic Planning’ intends to close. Does that sound like ’strategic planning’ to you? But they are happy to spend £1.2 Million on the ‘personalistion pilot’, yet say that protecting front line services is the “highest priority”.
[...] at the 4 Star Visit Scotland award earned by the Merrick Café at Newton Stewart as reported on 04-Dec, a project which started around five years ago and would not exist but for the imagination of the [...]